Nail-driving and clinching machine



Nov. 6, 1962 s. J. KENT 3,061,837

NAIL-DRIVING AND CLINCHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 7, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. SAMUEL J KENT ATTORNE Y Nov. 6, 1962 s. J. KENT 3,

NAIL-DRIVING AND CLINCHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 7, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z14 16 Z- fz i 5 56 l lli "'H 5 1271/ 7 h. J I I INVEN TOR. 5AMl/EL JKENT United States Patent Ofiice 3,%l,837 Patented Nov. 6, 19623,061,837 NATL-DRIVWG AND ZHNCG MACHINE Samuel J. Kent, 6432 unnyslopeAve, Van Nuys, Calif. Filed Aug. 7, 1%1, Ser. No. 129,859 Ciaims. (Ci.1-68) This invention relates to a tool for driving and clinching nails.

In the construction of building walls, particularly stucco-coveredwalls, metal lath, either expanded metal or large-mesh metal screening,is ordinarily fastened to the wall frame in such spaced relation theretoas to receive and hold stucco, or other such plaster-like material,firmly on the wall frame. The conventional way of mounting screen-typemetal lath is to interpose paper wads or other such spacers between thewall frame and the lath and drive large-headed nails through saidspacers into the wall frame so that the heads thereof overlap portionsof the lath to secure the same in spaced relation to the wall frame.This conventional way of mounting lath is not only time-consuming butdoes not fully insure that the nail heads will achieve desired overlapwith the mesh of the lath. Also, paper wads embedded in a stucco orother plaster or cement wall may deteriorate, allowing the lath to moverelative to the wall frame and induce crack-formation and crumbling ofthe stucco.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tool that will drivenails to secure metal lath in proper spaced relation to a wall framewithout spacers of any sort. Another object of the invention is toprovide a novel and improved method for mounting metal lath on a wallframe preparatory to application of stucco or other plaster or cementmaterial thereon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tool as characterizedabove that clinches the nails around the portions of the lath with whichthe same are engaged, thereby firmly holding the lath both firmlymounted on the wall frame and spaced therefrom for proper keyinginterconnection with stucco or the like applied thereto.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a method ascharacterized above in which nails to mount the lath are driven into thewall frame and then clinched around the lath in a continuous, rapid andsimple sequential manner that is both time-saving and eflicient.

This invention also has for its objects to provide a novel, economicaland convenient method or process of superior utility, and to provide atool that is positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installedin working position and easily disconnected therefrom, economical ofmanufacture, relatively simple, and of general superiority andserviceability.

The invention also contemplates novel combinations of method steps aswell as novel details of construction and novel combinations andarrangements of parts, which will appear more fully in the course of thefollowing description, which is based on the accompanying drawings.However, said drawings merely show and the following description merelydescribes, the invention with respect to a preferred method and tool,the same, nevertheless, being given by way of illustration or exampleonly.

In the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts inthe several views.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a nail-driving and -clinching tool in operativeposition, the nail-feeding magazine thereof being partly broken away asis the pneumatic operating device for said tool.

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof showing the nail-feeding magazine incross-section.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View as taken on the line 33 of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, showing the tool at the end of itsnail-driving and -clinching operation.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the tool as seen from the right of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are cross-sectional views as taken on the respective lines66 and 7-7 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary side view of a wall frame showing metal lathsecured thereto by the clinched nails of the present invention.

The drawings show the operating end of a pneumatic operating gun device10 which, for the purposes of the present invention, is provided with areciprocative plunger 11 operable in a bore 12 that opens on the end 13of the device. As shown in FIG. 5, said end 13 has a generally squareform, the same, by means of bolts 14, mounting the present tool 15, andthe plunger 11 being provided with a nail driver .16 that cooperateswith the tool 15 to drive nails :17 into a wall frame 18 and clinch thesame to secure expanded metal or wire screen lath 19 to said wall framein the spaced relation shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 shows conventional screen lath 19 with the nails 17 engaged withand clinched around the twist-connected portions 20 of said lath. Ofcourse, the nails may be engaged with and clinch around the single-wireportions 21 of the lath, as desired.

The tool 15 that is illustrated comprises, generally, a nose guide 25that is directly secured to the end 13 of the device 10 by bolts 14, anail magazine assembly 26 secured to and extending laterally from saidnose guide, and a nail-clinching lever 27 mounted within the nose guide.The nail driver 16 has operative engagement with the end of a nail 17fed by the assembly 26 to the nose guide and, sequentially, with thelever 27 to cause the same to clinch the nail around a lath portion 20during the final portion of its driving movement.

The nose guide 25 is shown as a plate 28 that has a flange 29 at one endto engage the end 13 of the pneumatic gun device. Said flange 29 has aslot 34 that opens on bore 12 of the gun device. The opposite end ofplate 28 has a notch 31 that extends from the end face 32 of said plate.The depth of said notch is such that a part 20 of the lath 19 may enterthe same when the face 32 is endabutted against the Wall frame 18. Inthis case, the notch has a depth to locate said lath part 20 about A"from the outer surface of the wall frame.

The plate 28 is provided with two guideways 3'3 and 34, the former toaccommodate a nail 17 and to guide the same and a nail-driving end 35 onthe driver 16, and the latter to guide an operating cam 36 on saiddriver 16 and adapted to engage the clinching lever 27 to clinch a naildriven by the driving end 35. A wall 37 divides the guideways 3-3 and 34and serves to guide the returnbent clinch end 38 of the nail duringdriving movement of the latter. A slot 39 separates the end 35 from thecam 36, the wall 37 entering said slot during nail-driving projection ofthe nail driver 16.

The nail magazine assembly 26, generally, comprises amounting plate 40that is held in flatwise position on the guide plate 28 by bolts 41, anda magazine 42 that extends laterally from said mounting plate 40.

Plate 40 has an end face 43 flush with the face 32 on plate 28 and anotch 44 that is in register with the notch 31 to accommodate portions29 of the lath. As best seen in FIG. 2, the plate 40 has a passage 45therethrough to pass the shanks of nails 17, said passage being enlargedat 46 to freely pass the clinch ends 38 of said nails.

The magazine 42 comprises a pair of opposed side plates 47 and 4-8 thatare secured by their ends to the mounting plate 40 by means of screws 49and extend normally from the outer face of said mounting plate. Saidside plates 47 and 48 are provided with inwardly directed folds 50 and51 that have adjacent ends in guiding engagement with intermediateportions of the shanks of nails 17 housed in the magazine. A guidemember 52 is affixed to and extends inward from the side plate 47 toprovide a lip 53 on which the clinch portions 38 of the nails hang.

The usual spring follower means, such as used in the magazines ofstapling machines, may be provided in the magazine 42 to resilientlybias a clip of nails toward and through the passage 45 and itsenlargement 46 and into the guideway 33. Such means forms no part of thepresent invention and is, therefore, omitted from the presentdisclosure.

Since only one nail 17 can occupy guideway 33 at one time, uponretractive movement of the plunger 11, the naildriving end 35 will moveclear of the next nail to be fed so that the same may enter the guideway33. Then, as the plunger 11 is projected, said end 35 displaces a nailfrom said guideway so that its point 54 passes to one side of the lathpart 28 in notches 31, 44, and the clinch end 38 of said nail passes tothe oposite side thereof. Thus, the lath portion 20 is confined in thebight 55 that is formed between the nail shank and the clinch end 38.The clinching lever 27 is operated by the cam 36 on the driver 16 duringthe last portion of driving movement of the nail and immediately afterthe end 38 of the nail has passed by the lath portion 20.

Said lever 27 is pivotally carried by one of the bolts 41 and is formedto have a cam-engaging end 56 and a clinching nose 57. A spring 58normally biases the lever 27 so that the same is not operated on itspivot unless a nail is fed. The clinching nose 57 of said lever isnormally in the path of the clinch end 38 of the nail. Hence, thelatter, as it reaches the lath part 20* in notch 31, 44, will retractsaid clinching nose 57, rock the lever 27 and bring the cam-engaging endof said lever into the oncoming path of the operating cam 36 on the naildriver 16. Therefore, the clinch end 38 will be clinched around the lathportion 20 at the end of the plunger stroke. Said clinch end, beingpressed closely toward the nail shank, keeps said lath portion 2-0 inspaced relation to the wall frame 18, as shown in FIG. 4.

The driver end 35 may be so proportioned relative to the length of cam36 that the clinched end of the nail may either be left extending beyondthe outer face of the wall frame or be pressed partly into the surfaceof said Wall frame. In either case, the lath is held spaced away fromsaid surface.

It is a simple matter to Withdraw the tool from the clinched nail since,upon retraction of the plunger 11, the lever 27 is freed so that it mayrock to release itself from the clinched end of the nail upon endwisewithdrawal of the tool from engagement with the lath.

The device It), in the usual way, may be trigger-controlled so that theoperator may place the tool with its end surface 32, 43 against a wallframe with a portion 20 of the lath in the notch 31, 44 and, in itsnormal position, spaced from the wall frame 18, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2and 3, and, by operating the trigger of the device, effect a clinchingoperation, as shown in FIG. 4, wherein said normal position of thescreen portion is retained. The rapidity with which successive nailclinchings may be carried out depends only on how rapidly the operatormoves the device from one part 20 to another.

While the foregoing illustrates and describes what is now contemplatedto be the best mode of carrying out the invention with respect to boththe method and tool, the same is, of course, subject to modificationwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore,it is not desired to restrict the invention to the particular methodsteps or combination or sequence of steps described, nor to theparticular form of construction illustrated and described, but to coverall equivalents or modifications of method and tool that may fall withinthe scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A tool for driving nails that have return-bent clinch ends on thedriving end thereof and for clinching said ends around a portion of alath or the like, said tool comprising a nose guide having an end Wallwith a notch therein to receive such a lath portion, a member housed inthe nose guide for inwardly clinching the clinch end of a nail, and anail driver guided in said nose guide and provided with a driver portionto drive a nail from the nose guide and with a portion to operate theclinching member to clinch the clinch end of the driven nail around thelath portion in the mentioned notch.

2. A tool according to claim 1 in which a nail magazine is provided tofeed nails one at a time to the nose guide.

3. A tool according to claim 1 in which a nail magazine is provided tofeed nails one at a time to the nose guide, and means to guide the naildriver for reciprocative movement relative to the discharge of themagazine.

4. A tool for driving nails that have return-bent clinch ends on thedriving end thereof and for clinching said ends around a portion of alath or the like, said tool comprising a nose guide having an end Wallwith a notch therein to receive such a lath portion, a lever pivotallymounted in said nose guide and provided with a nail-clinching end and anopposite operating end, and a nail driver guided in said nose guide andprovided with a driver portion to drive a nail from the nose guide andwith a cam portion to engage the operating end of the lever to move theclinching end thereof in nail-clinching direction to clinch the clinchend of the driven nail around the lath portion in the mentioned notch.

5. A tool according to claim 4 in which the nail-driving portion of thedriver moves the nail to driven position before the cam portion thereofengages the operating end of the lever to institute nail clinching.

6. A tool according to claim 5 in which a resilient bias is provided onthe lever to yieldingly hold the same with its clinching end in the pathof movement of the clinch end of a nail that is being driven to causesaid clinch end to rock the lever and move its operating end into thepath of movement of the mentioned cam portion to be engaged thereby.

7. A method for securing metal lath screening that is in spaced relationto a wall frame, said method consisting in clinching nails aroundportions of the screening while said portions are in such spacedrelation to said wall frame to retain such spacing.

8. A method for securing metal lath screening that is in spaced relationto a wall frame, said method consisting in driving nails successivelyinto said wall frame in close adjacency to portions of the screeningand, then, While said screening portion are in such spaced relation tosaid wall frame, clinching each nail around a portion of the lathscreening immediately sequentially to the driving of each nail.

9. A method for securing a portion of a metal lath screen that is spacedfrom a wall frame to and in such spaced relation to said wall frame,said method consisting in driving the shank of a nail having areturn-bent clinch end into said wall frame in close adjacency to saidscreen 5 portion to bring the bight defined -by said clinch end intoengagement over said portion, and then bending said clinch end of thenail toward the nail shank to close the bight around the lath screenportion.

10. A tool for driving nails that have return-bent clinch ends on thedriving end thereof and for clinching said ends around a portion of alath or the like, said tool comprising a guide provided with an end forengagement with a wall surface and with a notch in said end to receivesuch a lath portion in spaced relation to said surface, means carried bythe guide to inwardly clinch the clinch end of a nail, and meansincluding a nail-driving portion to drive a nail into a Wall and aportion to operate the nail-clinching means to inwardly clinch theclinching end of the nail around the lath portion in said notch.

No references cited.

